Vitali's late heroics lift Brescia past Monaco

Germani Brescia Leonessa registered its first-ever 7DAYS EuroCup road win by topping AS Monaco 80-86 on the road in Group A on Wednesday. Brescia improved to 2-4 in the standings, while Monaco dropped to 4-2. Bryon Allen led the winners with 22 points, Luca Vitali added 17, Awudu Abass had 13 and Jordan Hamilton 11 for Brescia. Yakuba Ouattara led Monaco with 19 points, Jarrod Jones added 17, Lazeric Jones 13 and Elmedin Kikanovic 11.

Early three-pointers by Ouattara and Lazeric Jones lifted Monaco to a 12-7 lead. Free throws by Ian Hummer ignited a 9-0 run that Kikanovic capped with a jump hook for a 21-9 Monaco margin. Allen and David Moss stepped up to bring Brescia closer, 26-19, after 10 minutes. Jarrod Jones took over early in the second quarter, Georgi Joseph downed a jumper and more foul shots by Hummer restored a double-digit Monaco lead, 34-24. Abass, Marco Ceron and Vitali each struck from downtown to get the visitors within 38-35. Kikanovic scored again and three-pointers by Lazeric Jones and Paul Lacombe restored a 50-39 Monaco margin at halftime. Hamilton and Allen tried to change things for Brescia after the break, prompting Monaco to call timeout at 52-46. A close basket by Hamilton and a step-back jumper by Abass made it a 2-point game. Ouattara and Jarrod Jones each fired one in from beyond the arc to give Monaco fresh air at 66-60 after 30 minutes. Lazeric Jones and Jarrod Jones helped the hosts gain a 72-62 margin early in the fourth quarter. Hamilton and an outstanding Vitali fought back and a three-pointer by Allen tied the game at 75-75. A free throw by Vitali completed the visitors' comeback. Vitali and Jarrod Jones traded triples and a layup by Allen gave Brescia a 78-81 edge. Gerald Beverly dunked and free throws by Allen and Vitali sealed Brescia's come-from-behind win.

Pivotal performer

Vitali had 11 of his 17 points in the final seven minutes and found Beverly for a big dunk that allowed Brescia to take full control of the game, 78-83, with a couple of minutes remaining,

Game-changing moment

A three-pointer by Ouattara gave Monaco a 75-67 margin with over six minutes left. Vitali had other ideas in mind, scoring 9 points in a 0-12 run - including two shots from downtown - to make sure Brescia took the lead, 75-79, for good.

Stellar stat

Brescia shot with great effectiveness (57.9% 2FG, 45.8% 3FG) and took excellent care of the ball, dishing 22 points and committing just 12 turnovers.

Did you notice?

Both Allen and Vitali had EuroCup career-high efforts in scoring with 22 and 17 points respectively. Vitali almost doubled his, which had been 9 points against Monaco earlier this season.

Head Coaches

FILIPOVSKI, SASO

AS Monaco

"First of all, congratulations to Brescia. They really played very good basketball. Offensively, they had many, many players who had a very good day. We knew that they have big offensive talent. We were not satisfied with our defense, even in the first half, when we received 39 points. The plan was to strengthen the defense; we knew that they would play a lot of one-on-one, drive and kick. We didn't stick to the game plan. So basically, we had the lead for three quarters and immediately lost our concentration, with turnovers, allowing them to immediately come back to the game. In the last five minutes, our defense was very bad, basically. Offensively, I think that we shared the ball. We had 21 assists. We missed some layups, but in the end, I think you cannot win many games with offense. The key is to bring our defense back and to be disciplined on defense. Congratulations again to Brescia. Today, they were better."

DIANA, ANDREA

Germani Brescia Leonessa

"It is a great win. We changed our attitude in the second half of the game. We changed our attitude on defense, pressed the ball all the time and mixed one-on-one defense and zone. I think that this win will give us great confidence to continue to believe in our goal in this first round. We now have three games at home, in our city, in our arena. We need to play tough in these games, with our fans. I want to thank them for their support here tonight. It is an important win."

Players

OUATTARA, YAKUBA

AS Monaco

"It was a big game. We knew, because of the scouting, that Brescia was a team that never gives up and always fights until the end of the game. They showed us again tonight. I think that, defensively, we didn't do a good job, especially in the last quarter. We tried to play a different kind of basketball which is not ours. They played hard and we tried to get back with individual plays more than collective, as a group. I think that was one of the big mistakes we did. It is not over, for sure. We know we made a mistake, but are still good in this competition. We lost one at home and the next game is on the road against Zvezda. We know what we have to do - get back to practice, work hard, stay focused and get this road win."

ALLEN, BRYON

Germani Brescia Leonessa

"We had a bad approach at the game at the beginning, then we came back from the locker room with another face. We knew that this one should be a really tough game, Monaco is such a good team, but in the second quarter, we played as a team. This is Brescia basketball, and I also want to say thank you to our fans who came to Monaco to support us."

MOSS, DAVID

Germani Brescia Leonessa

"Finally we have the toughness and we had a good reaction to the other team and this is important for us because we need to get confidence with defense and to continue to fight in the way that we did in the second half of the game."

HAMILTON, JORDAN

Germani Brescia Leonessa

"We played hard. Coach got all of the starting five - we didn't play well, but came out and executed in the second half. We played defense, only allowed 30 points in the second half and it helped us. This is no time to relax. We have four more games; hopefully we can come out and play hard. We showed potential but no, we just have to win games."